The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, please maintain order so I can speak without disturbance.

¶ 02 Hon. Leader of the House asked us to accept the OHCHR Report if we would not accept the Government’s position. But he misrepresented that Report. On pages 4 and 5, the High Commissioner criticizes unmet reforms and pledges: repeal of the PTA, accountability, a new Constitution— yet only limited delivery; PTA still used; no comprehensive transitional justice plan.

¶ 03 On poverty, pages 3 and 4 say poverty and malnutrition worsened and IMF austerity undermines rights. On the Malaiyaha Tamil wage issue, before coming to power the NPP promised Rs. 2,138; previously Rs. 1,350 was opposed by NPP MPs. Today it remains Rs. 1,350.

¶ 04 The Report’s paragraph 14 on corruption and debt states corruption undermines rights and cites the counterfeit human immunoglobulin saga. After this Government took office, a product once halted as unsafe was reintroduced, not on NMRA’s own research but on a supplier report; two deaths— one in Ragama and one in Nuwara— are linked, as I have tabled reports. The Minister may be unaware, but corruption under NMRA has occurred under this Government as well.

¶ 05 On repressive laws, pages 5 and 6 record arrests under PTA in 2025, including a 23-year-old Muslim youth for pasting anti-Israel stickers. On torture and custodial deaths, pages 6 and 7 note routine torture, arbitrary arrests, the 2025 death of Sathsara Nimesh in police custody, and 13 custodial deaths in 2024.

¶ 06 On land and religious sites, page 7 notes land grabs, “Buddhistization,” and economic exploitation, including attempted takeover of over 5,941 acres in Mannar, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu, and protests in Trincomalee over Archaeology Department land claims.

¶ 07 On transitional justice, pages 9–10 note the OMP’s ineffectiveness, victims’ distrust, weak forensics, only 18 traced out of 15,000 cases, and ongoing exhumations at Chemmani, Mannar, and Mullaitivu.

¶ 08 Pages 10–12 record stalled emblematic cases— Lasantha Wickrematunge, Prageeth Ekneligoda, and the Trincomalee 11— with little or no progress. Pages 11–12 further note sexual violence impunity— only Krishanthi Kumaraswamy’s case secured conviction— and lack of accountability for the Easter attacks after six years.

¶ 09 Page 15 records that militarization of civil life continues; army still occupies lands in the North and East; security sector reforms are delayed.

¶ 10 Journalists face intimidation: in the past two weeks, senior “Thamilan” journalist Shivaraajah’s mother in Colombo was warned about her son’s Facebook posts; in Mullaitivu, TID summoned journalist Kumanan, later “advised” not to publicize their questions. This is media intimidation under your watch.

¶ 11 On land: two Catholic churches within Palaly–Myliddy camps have been demolished— Kanikka Matha in Myliddy and St. Sebastian in Palaly— and, while those lands are not released, a private Buddhist temple is built on adjacent lands. This is a charge against the security apparatus, yet the Government shields them by not releasing lands.

¶ 12 You say you are a “new Government” even after a year in office. A new Government is two or three months old; after a year, have a plan and deliver. Do not continue to call yourselves new.

¶ 13 On local governance hypocrisy: your party formed councils with Pillayan in Batticaloa, with Namal Rajapaksa as Deputy Chairman in Vavuniya, with CWC in the hill country— while accusing us of alliances. Do not throw stones from glass houses. Demanding political rights is not racism; branding it so is itself the main racism.

¶ 14 On development and listening: when the Environment Minister promised to release Forest Conservation lands in Batticaloa months ago, why is it still pending? Do not brand us “racists,” “blue brigade,” or “Rajapaksa avatars” for demanding rights. The people see through the Government’s spin.

¶ 15 Thank you.